Mud screen



M. REAGAN 2,32

mm scrum Filed March 22, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 14,1943.

N .YJ v m7 N M T i n m 1 b m M Q r m N mu vu mm mu MN \A\. N v n N a L a a Om -partlyzinsection. I I I I I I I I 'Iig' ure 'Z shows -afragmentaryplanview show '"----1ng th'e enclosin hood removed;

Patented Sept; 14, 1943 I I 2329295 I I "Reagan, Hoi'istong Tex. I l '1 Applica i n March 22, 1940,;serial No gzsggil z l i (01 210 149 ,t inyentionmelates to amud screen and has I part icular relation to a, screen" specially. designed 3' 'fqr;sorteening outshale;,;sand, randother. heavy solidiparticles from; the drilling: fluid, commonly known t-asg .driIIingAmud, r which, is circulated through' thet well in;: .carr-y'ing vyon well "drilling v operations. I

As is .wellnknown the drilling fluid above ,re-

I particlesgthat,wvill hav a t n to quickly inihe l s h irculationisiempomrn msuspended, I I

sh il f u drit h 'cou se ofib mu ation, returns from the well on -its;way back to the P aled i h e rsan ian r hcnahea y 1 r naterial:w 1 1ich should be separated' frorn' it be- I fore it' is returned to the well. It is; a primejobe It isaa further object br-thecinvention toixpro videme'ans for vibratingthe screenwithout un'due i r severity sothat the parts will -notbe injuredg'but themotion imparted tothe screeri-will maintain the' material collected on "the -screenunder constantforward and downward movement alongthe I screen-toward thedis'charg'e end-thereof so as -not to appreciably {interfere with the'; passage of A further object of the' inventionis toprovide I novel means for hangingthescreen in- 'the frame;

The invention also embodies means for bypassing the drillingffluid around thescreen' into the pit in case the' screen; for *anyreason; .be-

*comes inoperative.

I *With the above 'and other objects in View the II inventioni hasparticular relation to certain novel features'of consti'uction; operation and arrange- -ment of parts, an example -of;--which is given in this specification and illustrated in the 'accom I panying drawings} wherein Figure l shows a 'si'deelevation ofthe screen,

'1 F gure 1. isl'10WS a vertieal seetional :vievv taken I ontheline 3v-- 3 of Figureg1 ,-.'andIt r I a v :7. Fi u fir h ws aver i al,sec ionalv ewzta on the line 4,-:4Y0f,: Figure 1.

I Referring,- now ;m01e particularly to the; draw- I ings wherein like numerals of;r eference designate thesamepartsin each.oflthe fi th I numerals I I designatepgsll ztable,runners,;pref- 1 I ferred to shouldv he -maintained. at the a desired density and of the-;req 1ired; specific .gravity vpand s o d; ashaspos bl esk pt f f hea y erably formed of QhanneLirOns and lponneeted at t irends in ,anyxpref rredimsnn ras; by

means of transverse tubes whoserespective ends y be welded to the;nunn iyqmOnfifi e runn s there is a box-like. casing having -a; bottom- 4; ex-

the end walls fi, I. I I I e I I The easing has a tra verse weir Byvhose upper:

tending approximately frorn end toiend of the structure and alsqhavin margin isv thejrequired; distance heneathgthe upper margin of, theside walls 5. ;;;'I?his-weir, therefore forms a receivingg chainber {hand a delivery chamber I0.

ring between said extensionsfllg by -the arrow in Figure 1., l I I g Declining forwardlyfrom the top of ,therweir 8 there is a chute, or flum e, liofapproximately' the same widthasithe overflow channel but whose lower forward end is widened each way as clearly i i The drilling fluid Taming fromythelwell will flow through the well ,delivery pipe l I-,- in r-ithe direction indicated by the arrow in' Figure '1,' into the r,eceiving -chamber 29'; and will.overflow.-;the weir 8, as clearly indicated in Figure 2. I

The overflow channel-from the chamberV- B restricted inwidth-bythesideextensions12;, l2 r of the weir 8: which extend upwardly to the upper shown in Figure 2.

There arethe rearside legs l4; i l,- the inter- I mediate tside legs I5, ,l 5 .and the forwardside legs l6; I6; These respective *side} legs are secured to therunner's I, l and extend upwardly adjacent theouter sidesoffthe easing walls;

I At the ,topofthe side walls arethe longitudinal supporting bars IT, I! which'aresecured injany preferred manner 'to the corresponding legs I4,

I, I5 on each side.

Mountedfon these bars are theftransver'sely aligned bearings I8; [8 in which the-transverse shaft I9 is rotatably mounted. Thisshaft supports a paddle wheel formed of the end discs 20, I 20 and the radial blades 2|, any preferred num- 'ber of blades being employed to produce the required power. The paddle wheel is of awlength equal, approximately, to the' width of the flume. The rear end of the flumeds curved to' conform athecsi wa i M d l2 as indicated,

to the curvature of the paddle wheel as clearly illustrated in Figure 1. Accordingly, as the drill- :ing fluid passes from the receiving chamber 9 along the flume [3 the paddle wheel will be rotated. i I

swung from the upper ends of the side legs l5 :are the links 22, 22 forming hangers and swung :from the. upper ends of the legs 16 are the hangers 23, 23. The hangers 22, 23 are of approximately. the same length. 'Ihe lower ends 0t these hangers are pivotally connectedto the v upper and lower ends, respectively, of the screen 24. The legs [5 extend up higher than the legs 1 I6. wardly. Each hanger 23embodies a cylinder 23a,

whose lower end is pivoted to the screen, and a rod 25 whose upper end has a bearing on the rod 26 which connects the upper ends of the legs I6.

The lowerend of the rod 25 has a stop 21 thereon and the upper end of the cylinder 23a is enclosedby a cap 28 through which the rod 25 works. A

coil spring 29 is enclosed within the cylinder and surrounds the rod 25'an'd'is confined between the stop 2'! and the cap 28 whereby thelower end of the screen is yieldingly suspended. Fixed on the shaft l9 out beyond the corresponding ends of the paddle wheel are the cam discs 38, 30. The

Accordingly, the screen will decline for thereon, the valve may be opened to permit I chute, l3 has the forwardly'diverging distributors outer face of each disc is provided with a cam shaped groove 3| of any selected contour. Pivoted on bearings 32, 32, depending from the I bars I], are suitable bell cranks, each having an arm 34 provided with a bearing roller 35which runs in thecorresponding cam groove 3| and also having an arm 36 Whose lower end. is pivoted to one endof the link 31, the other end of said link being pivoted to a' hanger 22. Accordingly,

as the paddle wheel turns the cam discs 30 will be driven, the bell cranks will be oscillated and the links 31 will be'reciprocated-back and forth causing an oscillation of the hangers 22 in the The screen, as is obvious, will be oscillated "forwardly and rearwardly; The lower ends of'the hangers will describe arcs in their movements and thescreen will also have a vertical, vibratory used and while used the other may be closed by a closure plate 43. i

At. times the screen it'may be necessary to make repairs thereon while the drilling operation is in progress and while circulation must be maintained. Therefore, the weir 8 is provided with an opening which is surrounded by a valve casing 44 which is secured to saidweir and'which contains a slidable valve 45. Connected tothis valve there is an operating link 46 whose outer end has a hand grip ;4'l. Thereby the valve may be'opened or closed. When the screen is functioning properly the valve will be kept closed. Should it fail to function, or should repairs become necessary the returningdrilling fluid from the well to bypass the scre'enand to flow into. the pit, until' the screen is again clcsedi a a H As clearly shown in' Figure '2 the sum, or

put into operation and then 48 spaced apart therealong and extending "torwardly to the forwardend of the chute for the purpose of securing a'substantially uniform' distribution of the drillingifluid. across' thje screen.

The paddle wheel may be shielded, above, by

means of the hood 49 whose forward edge is secured to a transverseangle iron 50 connecting the r upper ends of the'legs ls and whose rear margin is secured to the transverse angle iron 5| sup-.

ported on the upper edges of the side w'alls'i.

The drawings and description are illustrative merely, while the broad principle of the invention will be defined by .the' appended claims.'- WhatIclaimis: f 1.- A screen apparatus forscreening fluid or the like,*comprising a casing; a; transdirection indicated by the arrowsin Figure l.

The screen and hangers 23-will be correspond- -ingly oscillated. a

movement due tothe'co-nstruction'of theh'angers' 23 for the reason that the springs 2$- will *besubjected to varying loads due tothevariation in the accumulationsof the solid material on the 1 a screen and dueto the oscillatory movements of the screen.

As'the drilling fluid laden with solid material to be removed passes down over the screen the :pllle fluid will vflow down through the 'forarni- ,said side members. v p e p The drilling fluid to be returned'intojthe 'Well will therefore pass into the chamber ill but the shale, sand and otherfsolid material to be screened out will pass on. downwardly in a sub verse weir I separating the easing into, arec'iving compartment and a delivery compartment, on a common level a. forwardly declining'screen above the delivery compartment, hangers" for suspending the upper and *lower' ends of 'thescreen, the

hangerssuspending the lower end ofgtheiscreen being formed. of sections with yieldable means betweenthe sections whereby the'lower end'of the screen is yieldinglysuspended; a chute'having one end adjacent the weir and which declines forwardly and whose other end extend iover lthe screen and along which fluid over'fiowingfthe weir nat'ed screen covering 38 which is stretched across I. the rectangular screen frame formed'of the longi tudina.l side members .39; 39 and the transverse lend members 40, 40 which connect the ends of k .firom the receiving'compartment' may be deliv- .;ered onto the :screen, means including a water wheel mounted on- ;t he-c asing and connected to 1 some of the hangersand arranged to-beactuated V by the oncoming stream offluidandetj fective to oscillate thehangers and screen,-a discharge outlet leading from" the delivery compartment; said weir having a valve controlled gat through which .charge ou tlet.

the oncoming iluid may be yby-passed to the dis- I 2. A screen apparatus :iorscreening drilling l fluid or the like, comprising a casinjg, a transverse weir-separating the casing into-atreceivingicomstantially constant movementfover the' screen and will be discharged off of the lower endo f the screen outside of the chamber l8, to beremoved.

The screen may be located on either'sicle of the receiving pit for the drilling fluid. Atthe :fOiWard end of the chamber I0 there are the side discharge openings as 4|, 4|. Leading from one of the side openings into the pitthere is a declining chute 42L .Either'side opening may be M cent the. weir and its other end widened and. extended rp h e cr en minions; wh h i suspended, a chute having forwardly distributors spaced apart and extending from endito'end,

thereof said chutehaving oneend thereof adjamay fail to, function and I one Y p "25829395 V Q nuid overflowing the weir from the receiving compartment may be delivered onto the screen, a water wheel mounted on the casing and arranged to be rotated by the oncoming stream of fluid flowingrthrough the chute, means operatively connected with and arranged, to be oscillated by the water wheel, means connecting said oscillatable means to'the hangers suspending the upper end ofthe screen whereby the hangers and the screen will be oscillatedvforwardly and rearwardly and the screen willbe permitted to move vertically during 'said oscillatory movementsr 3. A screen apparatus for screening drilling I 'fluid comprising a box-like casing having a. bottom, end walls and side walls, one of said side walls having a discharge openlng,a transverse weir separating the easing into a receiving comdelivery compartment whose lower end extends i beyond said compartment, hangers for suspendingthe upper and lower ends "of the screen, a chute having one end adjacent the weir to re- 5 ceive the liquid' overflowing the weir, said chute declining forwardly and having its other end extended over the screen; said chute being provided to conduct-fluid overflowing the weirfrom the receiving compartment onto ,the screen,'means 10 including a waterwheel mounted on the casing I and operatively connected to some of the hangers and arranged to be actuated by the'oncoming stream of fluid and eflective to oscillate the hangers and screen,'and a valve controlled gate i i 15 through the weir through which the oncoming fluid may be by-passed around the chute into the receiving compartment; r MAR'I' IN REAGAN. 

